After US Infrastructure Bill, Oil Prices Rose while Chinese Export Increased
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Oil prices are on the rise today after the state-owned Saudi oil production firm Aramco raised the official selling price for its crude, indicating that demand is still strong.
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Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and terminal. (Image source: Simon Dawson / Bloomberg)
Positive indicators of global economic development boosted the outlook for energy consumption on Monday. Simultaneously Saudi Arabia's state-owned producer Aramco upped the official selling price for its petroleum, according to Reuters.
After falling over 2% last week, Brent crude's price was up 91 cents, or 1.1%, at $83.65 a barrel at 10:28 GMT. On the other hand, after falling over 3% through Friday, US oil rose $1.13, or 1.39%, to $82.40.
President Biden hailed the adoption of a long-delayed $1 trillion infrastructure bill by Congress on Saturday, saying it could increase GDP and fuel demand.
China's Growth Increased
China's export growth slowed in October, but it outperformed expectations, thanks to increased global demand ahead of the Christmas season and improvements in coronavirus-affected supply chains.
Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates, told Reuters that, "The impressive growth in Chinese October exports and imports implies that the health of the world's second-biggest economy is on the mend."
Late Friday, Saudi Arabia boosted the price of its benchmark crude for Asian clients in December, beating market expectations.
As more governments ease restrictions on air travel due to the coronavirus, demand for jet fuel is expected to rise as well.
Oil Prices on the Rise after OPEC+ Refused a US Call to Boost Production
On November 5, oil prices had risen more than 1%, to compensate for some price losses after OPEC+ rejected an American call to increase supplies to cool the market.
On November 4, the OPEC+ group of major producers agreed to continue to their plan to increase oil supply by 400,000 barrels per day (BPD) from December, despite calls from US President Joe Biden for more output to calm surging prices.
Saudi Arabia, the top OPEC producer, ignored requests from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, including Russia, for faster increases, citing economic headwinds.
